Wearable Maker Fitbit Fumbles

Wearable wristband market leader FitBit appears to be facing a more dismal future as competition from Silicon Valley giants including Apple make inroads into its market.

With a market cap of US$1.3 billion, Fitbit had appeared on top of the fitness gadget game. It makes wristbands and clippable devices that monitor fitness activity such as calories burned or distance covered.

But Fitbit is increasingly facing heavy competition from other device makers with greater resources and brand loyalty. The Apple Watch, for instance, now offers fitness-related apps which some observers see as making it a more desirable product.

That has seen Fitbit’s sharemarket price tumble. In July last year it had a market cap of almost US$11 billion; today it stands at $1.46 billion.